A 28-year-old Ecuadorian man was stabbed and beaten with bats and kicks, after an argument over a parking lot in Queens, New York. The suspects in the attack could face up to 25 years in prisonas reported by US media on Wednesday.
At the middle of March, Arturo Cuevas, 30 years old, and Daisy Barrera, 27, approached the young Wilson Chabla near his home on 48th Street near 47th Avenue in the Sunnyside neighborhood around 3:40 p.m. on Friday the 17th of last month, authorities said. .
According to the prosecutor, Cuevas complained that Chabla had parked his vehicle in a space on 47th Avenue in Woodside.
After the argument, Cuevas stabbed the victim with a knife repeatedly, then beat him with a bat until he fell to the ground, once there, the alleged assailant continued to stomp on Chabla and cut him across the face while Barrera, who is his partner, continued to hit the boy on the head with the bat.
Barrera also hit Delia Chimbay, Chabla’s girlfriend who had come to his aid, with the bat.
Cuevas and Barreras were arrested at an apartment building after a 20-minute standoff with police.
The first charge against the two suspects was for assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon. The charges were later elevated to attempted murder and he was ordered to be held on Rikers Island without bail.
Meanwhile, Chabla suffered a brain trauma, was left in comafrom which he woke up several days later, but is still hospitalized with a reserved prognosis and has undergone surgery on several occasions.
possible conviction
On Tuesday, Arturo Cuevas and Daisy Barrera, those allegedly responsible for assaulting the young Ecuadorian, were formally charged with six crimes and, if found guilty, could remain in prison for up to 25 years, according to the Queens prosecutor’s office.
The couple were indicted by a grand jury and indicted for the violent attack on Chabla.
District Attorney Melinda Katz charged them with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, while the woman was also charged with second-degree assault.
If convicted, they each face up to 25 years in prison.
Both pleaded not guilty during their first hearing before the judge, alleging that they acted in self-defense, Chabla’s lawyer was quoted as saying by Univision.
Different Ecuadorian organizations protested on Tuesday in front of the Queens court and demanded that the crime be classified as a case of racial hatred, since they assure that Cuevas and Barreras insulted Chabla for being Ecuadorian.
The next hearing will take place on May 9.
